Looks pretty rad! Thanks for passing this along! Is it just thicker aluminum that they say solves the problem?

 

Hmm ... This is interesting. I'll take a look at the plugged line in my truck and let y'all know whether or not there is any "sludge" after it being plugged for several years. I say "line" singular because the other end is a 2" hose attached to the expansion tank nipple.

It seems to me that in a well-maintained cooling system there will be no sludge anywhere in the system.

 

My take on the plug the lines method vs bypass entirely method - I often divide decision making into one of four quadrants:

1. High-risk, low-reward
2. Low-risk, high-reward
3. High-risk, high-reward
4. Low-risk, low-reward

This fix fits into the low-risk, low-reward category IMO and can therefore go either way. Its very little extra work to just remove the original water lines and replace with a bypass line, and by doing so removes two potential clamp failure points and I guess eliminate the risk (however risky it actually is) of accruing build up in the dead lines. It won't necessarily harm anything just plugging the lines either, but if one method is even a whisper of a margin better for such little labor, why not I guess?

Plus, the bypass method adds about 40 horsepower.

 

I have seen one of these in person and the quality was questionable.... Customer returned it and went with delete of TBH instead.

 

Normally I agree w/ ya Best, however I've bought 3 (and 1 of another brand which I didn't think was high quality from another vendor) and I can say the quality of these is scientific-instrument quality. Very very good. Nice rubber gasket too.

 

The base was very nice looking, on the unit I saw (which might have been from that other vendor you mentioned) the issue was with the two nipples and how they were poorly bonded to the base. Also the gasket was not rubber. It was like a cheap water pump gasket. I guarantee that puppy would have leaked or failed way worse than the OEM design & thats pretty bad in my book.

Glad you got some good ones & are happy with them. I just had to mention the 1 time I had one of those in my hands 3-4 years ago and I was not impressed for what they paid for it.

 

Hello all,
I have been trying to track down significant loss of coolant. I replaced throttle body heater, and took care of one of the leaks, but still losing a lot of coolant. I put some tracer in and I see a leak on the front driver side toward the middle. I don't see anything from the top of the engine. I was hoping someone could help me identify the source. With the engine running I could see coolant turn the corner right where this arrow is. Any thoughts?

 

Following up on the procedure above - if you run a line from the intake manifold to the expansion tank, this BMW clip helps clean up the routing of the line a bit and pops into a lug in the metal pipe below it. Hope that helps some of you fellow OCD folks out there.

 

Get a loaner cooling system pressure testing kit from any of the major auto parts stores and use it to find the source of the leak.

You can pump up the pressure to 20 psi, and then inspect for leaks without having the engine running.

Good luck, and let us know what you find.

 

That's real nice, makes it look factory original.